Ensuring location of an individual within a designated area is often of major concern to facilities having individuals that may wander from the designated area without notice. Certain medical conditions require constant monitoring of the individual to ensure proper health. Unfortunately, constant knowledge of the location of such individuals is very important in providing proper care. In addition, certain medical conditions of individuals may affect the memory of the individuals, thereby requiring monitoring of the location of individuals at all time to prevent the individuals from leaving the facility and becoming lost. An example of such an illness is Alzheimer's disease. Typically, although not always the case, such individuals are elderly and located at a retirement home or medical facility.
With the advancement of technology in the telecommunications and the medical industries, individuals disabled by a long-term medical condition are capable of remaining in their homes. Video cameras allow the individual to communicate with their doctor and be remotely seen at the same time. In addition, portable phones and push button devices allow the individual to inform others when they are in need of medical attention.
Persons assigned the task of ensuring proper medical treatment and monitoring of individuals having medical conditions typically hire a nurse or other medical caregiver to check on the medical condition of the individual on a daily basis. Typically, the hired nurse or caregiver will visit the home of the individual and administer required medical treatment during their visit. Unfortunately, for certain illnesses, the short visit provided by the nurse is not sufficient to provide constant monitoring of the individual requiring medical assistance or monitoring. As an example, an individual having a medical condition associated with loss of memory may wander from their home into their wooded backyard. Once in the backyard, due to their medical condition, the individual may not remember how to find their way back to their home, which may lead to medical concerns such as, but not limited to, hypothermia, dangers associated with wild animals, or even dehydration or hunger. Unfortunately, unless someone is always watching the individual having the medical condition, it is difficult to ensure that the individual does not leave his or her home without supervision. In addition, having someone constantly monitoring the location of an individual within a home or facility is quite expensive, thereby minimizing the availability of such a service.
Retirement homes and certain medical facilities also are assigned the task of ensuring that patients do not leave the facility without permission, specifically for the safety of the patient. Certain facilities limit the number of entry and exit points within their facility so as to minimize the number of areas requiring monitoring at all times. Unfortunately, this can restrict the flow of traffic into and out of the facility, in addition to still requiring constant monitoring. With the task of monitoring entry and exiting of the facility at all times assigned to a human, the process of monitoring is subjected to human error. As an example, if an individual is not watching the entry and exiting of the facility at the entry and exit points at all times, the patient may wander out of the facility.
To address this problem, facilities often have entry and exit points locked at all times. Unfortunately, an environment having all entry and exit points locked at all times renders itself more to a prison than to a medical facility or retirement home. Without being able to have a door or window open to let in fresh air and light, patients and individuals requiring constant monitoring or insurance of location within a facility may feel trapped and regret being at the facility.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.